Booked flight by mistake ??

B

butterfield

Registered User
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I somehow accidently booked a flight with United Airlines. Really don't know how it happened. Had been looking at the flights alright and probably did put in credit card details and was going to book but didn't go ahead, or so I thought. Anyway somehow it must have gone through and booked.

Now the thing is I never got a confirmation like you do immediately you book a flight. I did not realise it was booked until I got credit card bill and was shocked to find the charge there.

Have been in touch with them and they say it is non refundable, non transferrable etc. but will stay valid for 1 year if used by same person. Thing is I dont want to use it at all now.

Is there anything I can do ?? I feel that I will just have to accept it and learn to be more careful in future.
 
butterfield said:
Is there anything I can do ?? I feel that I will just have to accept it and learn to be more careful in future.
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This. Are you sure it's non-transferable? Most airlines allow a name change. Check what the name change charge is and see if you can sell it to someone, at least you might get some money back.
 
United Airlines state
"this ticket is non-refundable, so we cannot offer a refund, issue a travel voucher, or transfer this ticket to another person. However this ticket will remain valid in our system for one year from the original date of issue, at which time it will expire and all value will be lost. The unused non-refundable ticket may be applied to future travel within that year as long as all travel is completed prior to the expiration date. The new ticket will be subject to a change fee ($150 domestic $250 international) based on the fare rules. In addition to any difference in fare or fees that may be in effect at the time of travel"

So it doesn't look good ?
 
The same thing happened me 2 months ago (I booked 3 return flights in error).

I got a full refund, although it was a different airline.
 
I somehow accidently booked a flight with United Airlines. Really don't know how it happened. Had been looking at the flights alright and probably did put in credit card details and was going to book but didn't go ahead, or so I thought. Anyway somehow it must have gone through and booked.
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It is usually quite clear when you book a flight. For a seasoned traveller like yourself, it's hard to see how you didn't know you were booking it. You actually put your credit card details in?

Was it definitely a flight you were thinking of taking? Is there any possibility that there is some sort of scam or fraud involved?

You got no confirmation. Could someone else have used your CC details to book a flight for themselves?

Are your details on the UA system?

Why not do another test of the UA system (for a very cheap flight) to see how easy or how hard it is to book a flight unintentionally? Use spoof cc details.

Brendan
 
I use United fairly regularly.
It is impossible to book a flight accidentally.There is a clearly defined procedure to go through filling out personal information and credit card details and you are clearly asked to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the booking or not.
To suggest that a person can book a flight with them without really knowing how it happened is, I'm afraid, disingenuous at the very least.
 
At the time of booking my internet connection was not good and I think the booking may have gone through without me realising, this is the only explanation I can come up with. I genuinely did not know that I had booked this flight.

I know that I definately did not receive the usual return confirmation or I would have picked up on this immediately instead of when I got credit card bill.

I was confused at the time as I was booking a number of flights with different return dates. I have since booked flights I want so don't need this flight although I could have used it had I know that I had a valid booking with UA.
 
Yup, the United Website is fairly user friendly in my experience of it .. I don't think it would be possible to "accidentally" book a flight ... you don't have to enter any details to just search availability/pricing you enter the personal and payment details only when you want to book and you have to go through 2 or 3 screens to actually book ( and probably have a check a box agreeing to T&Cs etc.)

Regardless I'd say there's not much comeback at this stage .. if you'd picked up on it within 24h many airlines (I believe BA does for example) allow a "change of mind" .. but at this stage i guess you'll have to chalk it up to experience
 
It's very strange that you didn't get a confirmation immediately but something similar-ish happened to me. Is it possible that you tried to book but your credit card details weren't accepted? This happened to me with Delta. I tried to book a flight, got to the credit card details page and my credit card was rejected. A message appeared saying that I would have to get in touch with payment details within 24 hours or the booking would not go through (note to self and others - take a screen print of any messages like this). I didn't go back with payment details and didn't get a confirmation email (or any other email) from Delta. A few days later having sorted out the credit card, I booked with a different carrier. Weeks later, the day before I was due to fly, I got an email from Delta saying 'thanks for your booking, we look forward to checking you in for your flight tomorrow'. They had tried the credit card again and it was back working so they took the money and processed the booking! I spent ages on the phone with Delta trying to sort it out - they just didn't seem to understand that there was a problem, just kept saying that it was non-refundable so tough... but eventually after escalating up the command chain on the phone, they agreed to refund the money - but it was incredibly difficult and stressful. The problem with 'I didn't receive confirmation' is that it is easy to prove you received something - very difficult to prove you didn't! I presume somewhere in their system, they keep a record of emails sent - maybe see if they can find what they should have sent to you when you allegedly booked?
 
orka said:
It's very strange that you didn't get a confirmation immediately but something similar-ish happened to me. Is it possible that you tried to book but your credit card details weren't accepted? This happened to me with Delta. I tried to book a flight, got to the credit card details page and my credit card was rejected. A message appeared saying that I would have to get in touch with payment details within 24 hours or the booking would not go through (note to self and others - take a screen print of any messages like this). I didn't go back with payment details and didn't get a confirmation email (or any other email) from Delta. A few days later having sorted out the credit card, I booked with a different carrier. Weeks later, the day before I was due to fly, I got an email from Delta saying 'thanks for your booking, we look forward to checking you in for your flight tomorrow'. They had tried the credit card again and it was back working so they took the money and processed the booking! I spent ages on the phone with Delta trying to sort it out - they just didn't seem to understand that there was a problem, just kept saying that it was non-refundable so tough... but eventually after escalating up the command chain on the phone, they agreed to refund the money - but it was incredibly difficult and stressful. The problem with 'I didn't receive confirmation' is that it is easy to prove you received something - very difficult to prove you didn't! I presume somewhere in their system, they keep a record of emails sent - maybe see if they can find what they should have sent to you when you allegedly booked?
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But there's a world of difference between your case - where you specifically wanted to book a flight - and the OP who said it was done accidentally.
I still cannot understand how you can enter all your personal details and then your credit card details and then specifically confirm that you want to make the booking " by accident. "
Even on Ryanair !
 
Re "I still cannot understand how you can enter all your personal details and then your credit card details and then specifically confirm that you want to make the booking " by accident. "
Whether to understand it or not is not the point, it happened. The OP is looking for advice on how to rectify the error.
 
Thanks for that poundhound, l know I probably input all the data right up to the end. The reason for this is I was trying to decide whether to go ahead as I wanted to book 4 x flights but thought it would be cheaper to buy them individually and was undecided whether to do this or not. At this time my internet connection was faulty and it was always cutting out. So somehow it must have gone through. What I do know is I definately did not get a confirmation email or I would have called straight away to cancel.

I have since booked the 4 x flights and did not realise this one was there until I got credit card bill.

It is with US Airways not United as I mentioned earlier. Anyway I rang the customer service in UK and they advised that I email the complaints section in USA, and I waiting to hear back though I'm not too hopeful but you never know.
 
butterfield said:
Thanks for that poundhound, l know I probably input all the data right up to the end. The reason for this is I was trying to decide whether to go ahead as I wanted to book 4 x flights but thought it would be cheaper to buy them individually and was undecided whether to do this or not. At this time my internet connection was faulty and it was always cutting out. So somehow it must have gone through. What I do know is I definately did not get a confirmation email or I would have called straight away to cancel.

I have since booked the 4 x flights and did not realise this one was there until I got credit card bill.

It is with US Airways not United as I mentioned earlier. Anyway I rang the customer service in UK and they advised that I email the complaints section in USA, and I waiting to hear back though I'm not too hopeful but you never know.
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So,did you book the four flights and the additional flight by mistake with the same airline ? If so then there is some hope the airline might understand your predicament and refund the flight.
But if the two transactions were with different airlines you're right not to be too hopeful as I can't see airlines refunding flights that were accidentally booked.
 
poundhound said:
Re "I still cannot understand how you can enter all your personal details and then your credit card details and then specifically confirm that you want to make the booking " by accident. "
Whether to understand it or not is not the point, it happened. The OP is looking for advice on how to rectify the error.
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I realise the OP is looking for advice - I'm merely trying to establish how the error occurred because that's exactly what the airline is going to do as well.
 
Just a thought. Have you checked your spam folder for an email confirmation? I sometimes find emails in spam from addresses which have previously arrived directly in my inbox.
 
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